Department: Most Ark. schools need improvement

The state Department of Education released new school reports under the standards of the state's new accountability system.

Associated Press

Only a third of Arkansas' schools are considered "exemplary" or "achieving" while most need improvement under a new system of measuring accountability, education officials said Monday.

The state Department of Education released new school reports under the standards of the state's new accountability system. The new system measures schools looking at student achievement, student growth and graduation rates at high schools and replaces classifications used under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

State Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell said the new system will give schools credit for improving performance along the way, but will focus on helping students maintain proficiency in literacy and math.

Education officials say 19 schools were labeled "exemplary," the highest ranking under the new system, while 341 were "achieving," the second-highest status. Most of the schools, 587, were listed as "needs improvement," and 109 were "needs improvement focus."

Kimbrell said the schools labeled as "needs improvement" are not failing. Rather, they simply "missed a target."

Kimbrell said schools in the two lowest categories will be required to come up with a plan to improve and will be assigned a specialist to monitor progress. "Need improvement priority" schools have two years to improve before their districts face the possibility of being classified as academically distressed, a designation that would allow the state to take over a district or annex it with a nearby one.